The invention relates to a dispensing container for use with a self-service terminal (SST), and to an SST for using such a dispensing container. In particular, the invention relates to a dispensing container for storing valuable media in sheet form, such as currency, share certificates, flight coupons, and such like; and to an SST for dispensing valuable media from such dispensing containers.
Many conventional SSTs, such as Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), dispense valuable media. An ATM dispenses currency in the form of bank notes. These bank notes are stored in a reusable dispensing container called a currency cassette. A typical currency cassette is shown in FIG. 1. The cassette 10 is typically a strong metal or plastics box 12 having a removable lid 14. The lid 14 has a slot 16 (which is automatically covered when not engaged with an ATM) through which an ATM removes notes 18 from the cassette 10 in response to a cash withdrawal request initiated by a user.
The cassette 10 stores a large number of bank notes (e.g. three thousand notes) 18 in a single stack. The notes 18 rest on a plate 20 which is urged towards the top 22 of the box 12 by a spring 24. When a cassette 10 has been filled with bank notes 18 (FIG. 1 shows the cassette approximately half full) then the lid 14 is secured to the front of the cassette 10, and the cassette 10 is loaded into an ATM.
In use, when a cash withdrawal function is requested, the ATM removes one bank note at a time from the cassette 10 until the correct number of notes have been removed. When the number of notes 18 in the cassette 10 falls below a predetermined threshold then the cassette must be removed to a currency center, the contents of the cassette reconciled to ensure that all of the bank notes have been accounted for, and the cassette replenished with bank notes.
This type of cassette 10 has a number of disadvantages. Cassettes which have to be replenished still contain a number of notes and therefore must be guarded carefully when conveyed between the ATM and the replenishment center. The replenishing operation is quite complex because the remaining bank notes have to be reconciled with the number of bank notes dispensed. The cassettes are expensive. The cassettes cannot be replenished in use in an ATM. When a cassette is removed then the ATM is put out of service until a replacement cassette is inserted.
It is an object of the invention to obviate or mitigate one or more of the above disadvantages.
According to the invention, a dispensing container for dispensing valuable media in sheet form is characterized in that the container has one or more frangible portions for facilitating opening of the container, so that when the container is loaded into a self-service terminal, the one or more frangible portions can be broken to allow dispensing of the contents of the container.
The one or more frangible portions may be in the form of perforations defining one or more openings in the container.
By virtue of the invention a low cost container is provided.
Preferably, the container is intended to be only one-time usable. It will be understood that the term one-time usable means that the container is not replenished with media after use. The container may be discarded after use or it may be used in a recycling process so that old containers are re-worked to produce new containers.
Preferably, the container is made of recyclable material such as cardboard, so that after use, a discarded container may be collected and recycled for use in another container.
The container may be less than 300 mm in height (where the height is the dimension determining the number of media items that may be stored, the length and width determining the surface dimensions of the media that may be stored). Preferably, the container is less than 100 mm in height; more preferably, less than 70 mm in height; advantageously, less than 50 mm in height; most preferably, less than 30 mm in height. The advantage of having a low height container is that fewer notes can be stored, therefore, the security risk involved in transporting the container is reduced.
Preferably, the container has a tamper evident construction. Conveniently, the tamper evident construction is implemented by having a seal which is highly visible when broken.
Preferably, the container has a machine-readable identifier. Conveniently, the machine-readable identifier is a bar-code including information such as the number of notes stored in the container, the denomination of notes stored. Alternatively, the machine-readable identifier is an electronic tag.
According to the invention a self-service terminal is characterized in that the terminal incorporates
a housing for storing containers;
a breaching mechanism for providing an opening in the containers;
an emptying mechanism for removing valuable media from the opening in the containers; and
a discharging mechanism for discarding empty containers.
Preferably, only one container in the housing is open at a time, so that a container is only opened if the previous container has been emptied. Alternatively, a second container may be opened when the number of valuable media items in a first container falls below a predetermined level.
Preferably, the breaching mechanism breaks one or more frangible portions in a container.
Preferably, the housing automatically presents a container to the emptying mechanism so that when the discharging mechanism discards an empty container the housing presents another container to the emptying mechanism.
Conveniently, the housing stores the containers in a stack arrangement with the bottom container adjacent the emptying mechanism so that as a container is discarded the adjacent container falls towards the emptying mechanism. In other embodiments, the housing may store the containers in other configurations, for example a generally horizontal configuration or a circular configuration.
The emptying mechanism may be a conventional pick mechanism as used in conventional ATMs.
The discharging mechanism may be an actuatable support plate.
Preferably, the SST further comprises a charging slot for receiving one or more containers from an owner of the SST; and a charging mechanism for loading the housing with the received containers. This feature has the advantage that the media within an SST can be replenished by the owner adding one or more containers without having to shut down or open up the SST.
Preferably, the SST further comprises a testing mechanism for verifying the integrity of a tamper evident seal. The testing mechanism may be responsive to the charging mechanism so that each received container is tested and only conveyed to the housing if the tamper evident seal is intact. Any container failing the verification may be retained or returned to the owner.
Preferably, the SST further comprises auditing means for reconciling on a per container basis the amount of media in a container with the amount of media dispensed by the SST from that container. The advantage of this is that the contents of each container can be audited immediately after dispensing the last media item from a container. If the number of media items dispensed equals the number of media items originally in the container then the next container may be opened. If the contents of the container are not reconciled with the number of media items dispensed then the media dispensing facility may be temporarily stopped until the SST is examined.
It will be appreciated that one feature of the invention is that the dispensing container does not have any urging means for urging media to one surface of the container: the urging means is incorporated in the SST into which the container is loaded.
Another feature of the invention is that reconciliation and auditing is performed automatically by the SST and only has to be performed manually in cases where the automatic audit fails to reconcile the media dispensed with the media in a dispensing container. When these dispensing containers are used in an ATM they greatly increase the flexibility of the number and types of bank notes that can be dispensed.
Yet another feature of the invention is that an ATM using these containers can selfreconcile after each container has been emptied.
A further feature of the invention is that an ATM using such containers generally only requires movement of cash to the ATM, not from the ATM to a currency center; this obviates the requirements for high security transportation from the ATM to the currency center.